Differences between shocks/struts

[slacktide_bitog]

Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28
Asand1,

So a strut can or can not have a coil spring?


GM has made a few strut designs that don't have the coil around them, such as the 3rd gen Camaro/Firebird and at least one other car of the same time period.

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: sciphi
I bet the Monroe OESpectrum struts are relabeled OEM units. That was the case with the OESpectrum struts I put on the Fit last month, and from others that have used them. The OES shocks were house-brand Monroe, though.



What someone mentioned today as well....

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28
Asand1,

So a strut can or can not have a coil spring?


GM has made a few strut designs that don't have the coil around them, such as the 3rd gen Camaro/Firebird and at least one other car of the same time period.


79-04 Mustangs used the same arraignment in the front along with the myriad of other vehicles on the Fox platform.

As far as the "coilover" term, I put Bilstein coilovers on my 98 Mustang, they had the collar o nthe threaded body to adjust ride height.

 

[tom slick]

Simplified illustration

Having a spring attached to a damper does not automatically make it a "strut".

Some vehicles use a multi-link suspension with the shock and spring as one unit but that is not a strut

image borrowed from http://www.fitzhughmedia.com

 

[asand1]

A strut would be a shock absorber that acts as a locating link, such as replacing an A arm. The spring doesn't matter. Just think about the word strut in the manner of a brace or support.

 

[KrisZ]

The difference is mostly semantics IMO. Each suspension type needs a shock absorber and a spring. How they are arranged is dependent on vehicle type, price and intended use as well as available space.
Is it really all that relevant if one calls it a damper, shock, strut, coil over, spring over? To me it is not.

Speaking of struts. A strut is a structural member designed to resist compression, so in a suspension, any member that bears compression load should by all means be called a strut. Yet we call them arms, links, wishbones etc. Those are just arbitrary names based on looks, location or general function of the component that caught on.

 

[BigD1]

Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28
Asand1,

So a strut can or can not have a coil spring?


GM has made a few strut designs that don't have the coil around them, such as the 3rd gen Camaro/Firebird and at least one other car of the same time period.


Yes my GM W-body has rear struts without a coil spring, but it has a fiberglass transverse leaf spring that extends across the rear end of the car from hub knuckle to hub knuckle.

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: tom slick
Simplified illustration

Having a spring attached to a damper does not automatically make it a "strut".

Some vehicles use a multi-link suspension with the shock and spring as one unit but that is not a strut

image borrowed from http://www.fitzhughmedia.com


Nice!

 

[javacontour]

I think this describes my old Ford Fairmont. It had McPherson struts up front, but they were not inside a spring.

Originally Posted By: asand1
A strut would be a shock absorber that acts as a locating link, such as replacing an A arm. The spring doesn't matter. Just think about the word strut in the manner of a brace or support.

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: javacontour
I think this describes my old Ford Fairmont. It had McPherson struts up front, but they were not inside a spring.

Originally Posted By: asand1
A strut would be a shock absorber that acts as a locating link, such as replacing an A arm. The spring doesn't matter. Just think about the word strut in the manner of a brace or support.


For some reason I thought they did. When I was a kid, a neighbor had a Fairmont that he worked on a bunch....